Weekender

These comics appears with comedy articles in the "Weekender" Section of the Northern Star, the student newspaper of Northern Illinois Univeristy, back in 2005-2006.

Works were created with pen and ink, scanned, and grey tones were added via photoshop.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 08/25/05

This comic was about the sure-fire fashion statements of 2005: the popped collar, the reverse upside down visor, as well as a wish for more exposed naval on the ladies. Chris was also hoping someone would flip out and cover themselves in duct tape as a fashion statement. If you can't duct it...

Comic musings:

I did this comic with the idea of really pushing the boundaries of past comics I did for the paper. I was a bit nervous about having a ginourmous illustration of a naval for the inaugural comic to start my run as the Weekender cartoonist, but it went over well. I also had this idea to have a reference to the "weekender" section in all of the comics I did (which I eventually forgot about later as school got crazier as the year progressed). Check to belt buckle to see what I mean.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 08/25/05

After spending the summer in a calm, vacant DeKalb IL, Brayton mused about the oncoming onslaught of Freshman and NIU college students converging on the NIU campus for yet another year of "learning" and drunken debauchery.

Comic musings:

I did this comic really wanting to push myself. I was just starting to dabble with using grayscale in the comics I did for the Star this year. In the past I was making printouts on legal size paper which were scanned by the editor and placed on the page. I later moved over to burning the comics on a CD (and hoping they didn't get messed up in the disc to computer transit). I spent a crazy amount of time on this comic, really hoping to kick the door in for my first set of comics for the Weekender.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 09/01/05

Readers of the 'Struppendous Advice' were and inquiring bunch. This comic posed the question, what if the roommate that NIU hooked you up with in the dorms was actual a commie bastard-hell bent on blowing up the cornfields in DeKalb.

Comic musings:

I give myself props for researching Rocky IV on the tee, (the Rocky when Stallone fights Dolf Lundgren). Choice. Upon discovery of the "halftone effect" I began using it as a background element in my comics.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 09/01/05

2005 marked the beginning of the palm pilot and gadget craze. Brayton noticed the growing popularity of the device and pondered what the PDF of PDFs might be.

Comic musings:

I like to call this comic "please hire me Mad Magazine."

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 09/08/05

Beer:30 is a time that every college male observes on a daily basis, typically until the wee hours of the morning. In this edition of the "Advice" Strup ponders bailing on some sweet home cooking for some "liquid refreshment of the Gods."

Comic musings:

Struppendous advice usually had two to three "questions" per edition. As time progressed the comics I drew became more and more nonsensical as I tried to cover all of the bases visually. This illustration as as a stand alone image really needs to the article to compliment it, cause you'll never figure out what the hell is going on.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 09/08/05

Frats and Fratboys. On a night of wandering Brayton made a comparison to NIU's Greeks and Animal House, literally.

Comic musings:

"Mutant duck" (seen in the middle of the comic, barking) was the unofficial mascot of the "Weekender" for a short time after this comic.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 09/14/05

Without effort, the ladies of our life can bring us to our knees with their wit and wisdom. This is about how a simple game of Battleship can become a metaphor of the day to life of a college relationship.

Comic musings:

Chris never asked me to actually draw him in his own comics, but kind of wanted me to. This one I somehow nailed what his real-life girlfriend at the time looked like without actually meaning to (I never saw her or had him describe her to me in his life). Ironic. Oh yeah, the dude I drew in this comic looks nothing like Chris.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 09/14/05

Cheaters. Nobody likes em, but they are out there. This was about Brayton's dislike of the cheating few at NIU. Hey that rhymes, BOW DOWN.

Comic musings:

There's a question as to wheter or not the dude is checking out the girl's answers, or the girl herself. I let that ambiguity slide. If you look closely, I had the girl draw my initials with in a "heart with a line through it" on her notebook. For the halftone pattern background I made all the circles in Adobe Illustrator and imported them into Photoshop cause I wanted them clean and crisp...because I'm anal retentive.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 09/21/05

This edition, a writer asks what could be the most elaborate prank to play on roommate who recently injured their leg. Chris' solution: turn the house into a set for your own personal production of "A Christmas Carol."

Comic musings:

There's a lot of things going on in this article, the references to "A Christmas Carol" as well as a few references to "Caddyshack." Why? I have no idea.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 09/21/05

Hurricanes had been inundating and destroying the southern part of the United States. Brayton's solution to the turmoil: a giant robotic hurricane fighting ferret (which would also keep the rabbit population in check). After conquering Mother Nature, it would logically have to go to Japan, and fight Godzilla.

Comic musings:

Never in my life did I think I'd draw a giant robotic hurricane fighting ferret, and yet, there it is.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 09/29/05

If the magical mirror on the wall has the ability to answer the question to "who is the fairest" it may answer, but consider the feelings of the mirror when asking.

Comic musings:

I remembered to give props to the Weekender in the mirror on the left, adding "Weekender Mirror Co" on the top of the frame of the mirror. Also, I actually ran into a guy that had a single antler growing out of his head. That's a comic based of life. True story.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 09/29/05

Brayton, on another one of his trips on foot around DeKalb, found a feminie item. A tampon. So he decided to write an article about his thoughts on periods.

Comic musings:

Brayton's comic was always a challenge to draw for because he would always come up with so many things to portray visually. In this case, I had to think of a way to NOT portray thinks visually, cause I wanted to get the comic published and get paid like any other guy. So I came up with the idea of potraying the "period" as a strange occurance in a deep jungle, showing Brayton 'Indiana Jones' style. My attitude on this one was to draw my ass off, and hope that the high level of work would allow the comic to be published (since the column managed to get by the editor). And it did.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 10/06/05

Chris was hoping that a airplane's worth of human waste would dump on the Fox Channel's News reporters after watching their shenannigans on a broadcast one night.

Comic musings:

I added some bowel movement aiding elements in the forground. Lucky Charms, woo.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 10/06/05

I really don't remember what this one was about, I think it was about Brayton's old TV and if all of his tapes conspired to make the greatest B movie of all time.

Comic musings:

I spent too much time drawing this one, and didn't ink it. Partly cause I didn't want to hinder the art of the comic, mostly cause I was behind the 8-ball and needed to get it done. I thought it had a nice feel and changed it up from the past comics I drew.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 10/12/05

Sometimes there's the roommate you love to hate. Sometimes the roommates who love to hate the roommate you love to hate like to eat their food and steal their stuff. This is about all that. Feel free to read that again if you missed what I said.

Comic musings:

Making theft funny is hard.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 10/12/05

Marriage is a topic that is a buzzkill for any college male. This comic is about Brayton's trip to a wedding where he was pressured to eat the ceremonial cake, taking a bite would possibly lead to a marital doom. Scully from X-files was along for the event.

Comic musings:

When he wrote about an "alien baby" in his column, I doubt he thought I'd draw the "alien" as a "baby."

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 10/20/05

A reader ponders what to do when a woman with a backyard the size of a football field obstructs the aisle in the supermarket. The event which actually took place, was something similar to the "Shining" except a character with an ass like a shelf was in the cast.

Comic musings:

I wanted the comic to have that security cam feel, something like that "been caught stealing" video feel from Jane's Addiction, where the vid was filmed with a fish-eye lens.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 10/20/05

Nothing would be a better harbinger of death than the Canadian Goose. If Canada were to strike, we'd be taken off guard by those little stocking cap wearing geese. Aye?

Comic musings:

I was making paintings about birds and the "bird flu" at the time, and this was a nice light hearted retreat from that.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 10/27/05

The Cell Phone provides great distractions when wanting to dodge and unwanted encounter, this comic takes is a bit further.

Comic musings:

When I showed Chris this illustration, he was a bit dumbfounded that I didn't use his definition of someone calling a person on their cellphone, and instead, dressed an oversized phone in drag.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 10/27/05

If you make a trip to NIU's Health Services you will be diagnosed for one of two ailments: mono, or pregnancy. This comic is about how Brayton went to the clinic with man-pregnancy.

Comic musings:

I don't know if it called for it, but I thought having a nervous smoking germ was a nice touch. Brayton is in love with Scully from X-Files if you didn't pick up on it yet.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 11/03/05

One of Chris' fans wrote in a question that was more of a rant than a question about how certain professors try to drag class out past dismissal in a seeming attempt to keep the students around longer to avoid their own personal case of loneliness.

Comic musings:

Foofi the dog wasn't too happy about having to hang around longer than needed.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 11/03/05

On occasion the 'Weekender' would have celebrity interviews. In the past they've interviewed stars of Nickelodeon's "Salute Your Shorts" as well as "Saved by the Bell." This interview they managed to get a hold of the star of the Nickelodeon show "Alex Mack," Larisa Oleynik. Thinking it was going to be a smooth interview, things took a turn for the worse when the little phone recorder device they use to capture the interviews crashed and burned. Brayton then re-wrote the interview from his mind.

Comic musings:

I try to put my initials in a "heart with an arrow through it" whenever possible on the ladies in my comics.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 11/10/05

2005 marked the finale of the Star Wars series with the release of "Return of the Sith." Strupp pokes fun at the nerds and geeks of the world who lamented its ending.

Comic musings:

I want a pair of Chewbacca slippers.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 11/10/05

Jones Soda Co. comes out with seasonal sodas that taste like treats from the Holidays. This installment was for the Turkey Day. By facial expression, Brayton's reaction is captured. Included as well are some holiday suggestions for additional sodas.

Comic musings:

I was pretty happy I emulated the "Jones Soda" look in this comic. The advisor at the Star was miffed at this comic because he felt it "gave the joke away" because I included the additional flavors Brayton later mentioned. Brayton really didn't care. Go fig.

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 11/16/05

Have a stinky roommate? Have someone in class that reaks? Struppendous Advice provides a solution to their stinkiness: loofa toting ninjas.

Comic musings:

Chris wanted a random bumb in the comic taking a whizz.

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 11/16/05

Brayton revisits a dream he has about sleeping with the headless horse woman.

Comic musings:

In addition to the headless woman, there's a bodyless horse (cause I forgot to crop the image).

Struppendous Advice

Original Print Date: 12/01/05

Sadly, this is the final edition of the "Advice." A reader asked the question as to why there was a sudden interest in the color blue in pop culture. This is the comic that resulted.

Comic musings:

I drew this comic at like 5 AM cause I had this crazy class at the time that I needed to get a presentation done for. This comic took priority. 10,000 readers, or impressing 30 classmates for a grade, 10,000 readers...

The Spaghetti Dinner Bear Presents:

Original Print Date: 11/03/05

Brayton's final column was about cheese. Having no way to make a funny cheese related comic, I leaned on an old stand by: making fun of the Northern Europeans.

Comic musings:

This is my first and last appearance in one of my own comics for the Weekender section (I'm wearing the argyle stocking cap). Why? Because the Weekender was cut in the 2006 semester of the school year and replaced with the daily "Flavor" section. If you didn't read on the right, I drew this at 6 in the morning the day before it was printed, barely making it on time.